The American Legion Post 46 baseball team dropped three more games in the past week to extend its losing streak to six games despite hanging close with two of the teams.
They fell 3-1 to Rhinelander last Monday before taking a 13-3 loss on the chin from Wausau last Tuesday in back-to-back road games. RSW pulled out a 13-7 triumph on Monday at Athletic Park.
The RSW contest appeared to be a relapse of the Wausau game, but Merrill battled back from a 10-0 deficit with five in the 4th and solo runs in the next two innings.
“We got down 10-nothing,” Merrill manager John Annis said. “They hit it where we weren’t. We hit it hard right at them, and they had two diving plays. It was good to see we’re hitting the ball better lately with regionals coming up.”
In the 4th, Post 46 followed a hit batter with five consecutive singles, including a 2-run hit by Brad Juhlke to cut it to 10-5. Alex Cordova doubled and scored on David Pophal’s hit in the 5th. Three consecutive walks set up an RBI fielder’s choice by Cordova in the 6th.
RSW added one in the 6th and two in the 7th to close it out.
Alex Klug (7 H, 10 R, 4 ER in 2-23 I) took the loss, and Juhlke (5 H, 6 W, 2 K, 0 R in 2-1/3 I) and Cordova (3 H, 4 W, 2 R in 2 I) relieved.
Klug (3-4), Pophal (2-3), Cordova (2-4, 2B) helped Merrill reach nine hits.
Hodag heat
Rhinelander’s Baumgartner limited Merrill’s to one 1st inning run on 4 hits and 2 walks. Merrill’s Coleton Bloch gave up 6 hits, 3 walks and struck out 10, but was reached for two runs in the 4th and one in the 5th.
“Coleton pitched really well, but he didn’t get much run support,” Annis said. “We played good defense behind him, they just hit the ball where we weren’t.”
Cordova hit Pophal home for the only run.
Greater Wausau area
Wausau took a 5-0 lead by the 2nd inning, but Post 46 cut it to 5-3 in the 7th before the host team broke it open with six in the bottom of the frame. Two 8th-inning runs ended it.
“We got back into the game and then let them take over,” Annis said.
Merrill ended up with 9 hits due to Cordova (3-4, 2B) and Ben Anderson (2-4, 2 RBI). Brian Stockowitz (6 H, 4 W, 6 K, 5 R, 4 ER in 5 I) lost, and Klug (5 H, 1 W, 2 K, 6 R, 4 ER in 2 I) and Cordova (2 H, 2 R, 2 ER in 1 I) finished it.
Merrill is now 4-8 on the season.